


Baby Blue

by Sam4265



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Post Mpreg, insecure!Hank, pregnant!Alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 09:24:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12009804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam4265/pseuds/Sam4265
Summary: When their daughter is born blue, Alex must talk sense into Hank, who feels guilty that he's passed on the most unfortunate parts of his mutation.





	Baby Blue

Mia McCoy was born on November 1, 1963. A year after the disaster that was their time in Cuba, a year after their team had been split down the center, half their family leaving on a mission of hate and fear. A year of just the four of them, Charles, Alex, Hank and Sean, living together in misery. The closer she came to being born, however, the less miserable they became. She was something wonderful, something light in their perpetually dark lives. Charles finally began to leave his room again, no longer in perpetual mourning over the loss of both his sister, and Erik, the love of his life. He missed them, more than he would ever say, and Moira's memory erasal had been harder on him than he'd admit, but the prospect of a new life, of a little girl or boy running around, had been enough to make him feel just the littlest bit better. Better enough to walk outside, and make tea for everyone. Better enough to begin to develop the plans for Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.  

It had been a long road to the birth of Mia McCoy. It had taken Hank so long to come around to Alex, to let himself be loved by him, especially after he'd become blue and furry. He'd been furious for weeks after Cuba. He’d been angry with Raven and Erik for leaving them, with himself for the failure that had been the cure. He’d been letting no one in, all he’d do was sit in his lab and force himself to find a cure for his new beastly appearance. After a week of this isolation, Alex grew angry with Hank for leaving them too, and began to go by his once a day to yell at him for being a hermit, and occasionally to bring him food. Eventually once a day became twice a day, and then three times a day until he was spending all of his free time down in the labs, looking after Hank and keeping him company. Alex had developed a crush on Hank months ago, soon after they met in fact, so eventually, after enough time had passed Alex's crush was no longer unrequited. Soon after that they came together in another way, and, to put it bluntly, they had sex on one of the lab tables. A month later, a month of a carefully developing relationship, and they realized Alex had a secondary mutation, and that he was pregnant. Hank was originally completely distraught, worried he'd pass on his disfigured mutation to their child, but Charles, knowing this wasn't just about acceptance but more about fear, had reassured Hank that since his original genetic code had not included the blue fur, it was unlikely that such a mutation would be passed on to his and Alex's child, especially considering they still didn't know how the x-gene really worked, not yet anyway. For all they knew their child could turn out with a mutation completely different from either his or Alex’s. Hank had been reassured, and that had been the end of it, for nine months.

Only, on November 1, 1963, at 10:57 in the morning, Mia was born, and she was blue.

The doctor, a mutant named Marcus who could heal minor things with a touch, handed the baby to Hank, who was in charge of cleaning and wrapping her, of making sure she was ok. Hank went through the motions, mind blank except for the sudden and all consuming horror that enveloped him. He wrapped his daughter in a soft fluffy white blanket, noticing in the back of his mind that her feet were spread and finger-like, just like his had been, and examined her with critical scientific eyes. He quickly decided that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her skin was soft and smooth, a clean pure unblemished blue, the same color he was. There was a small tuft of impossibly soft darker blue hair on top of her head. Her eyes weren't open yet, but Hank knew what he'd see when they did open, a beastly yellow. Somehow everything wrong with him looked beautiful on her, but that didn't stop the overwhelming burst of guilt that hit him like a tidal wave. She would never be able to go out in public. She wasn't like Raven, she couldn't change her appearance at will. She wasn't even like Hank, who, despite his current inability to join society, had not always looked as beastly as he did. His daughter was blue, and she would never be able to change that, to walk amongst humans without fear. Hank had ruined her life and she'd only just been born.

He cuddled her close and turned around to watch Marcus, stitch Alex up. Hank hadn't trusted himself with the surgery, not to perform it and certainly not to perform it on Alex. Hank looked down at his daughter and was surprised to see bright yellow eyes looking up at him. He smiled softly at her and kissed her forehead. She blinked sluggishly at him and Hank rubbed his thumb against the back of her small little head.

It took Alex a little under half an hour to finally wake up. The pregnancy had been a strain on him, and the birth even more so. Hank smiled at him when he finally did blink blue eyes open. Hank knew that Alex had always said he didn't care what their child ended up looking like, but he couldn’t help the butterflies in the pit of his stomach as he readied himself to hand their daughter over to him.

"Hank," Alex said with a sigh and a smile.

"Hey, there's someone here who wants to meet you." He handed Alex the little white bundle and watched the light spring into Alex's eyes. He looked completely and utterly besotted.

“Hello baby,” he said softly. Their little girl opened her big yellow eyes and blinked up at him. Alex laughed, tears threatening to bubble over. He looked up at Hank.

“Hank, she’s blue,” he said, laughing like it was the most amazing thing to ever happen to any of them. Hank had to disagree, but he didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t bring it up with Alex, not now, maybe not ever. He couldn’t let it become an issue, not until he could solve it. He’d been working on the cure before Alex had stopped him, and he could start again. Give his baby girl the chance to live outside these four walls. The moment Hank thought it, he decided it. He would begin work on the cure again, and he wouldn’t stop until he found it, until he found a way for his daughter to join the world like she should.

“I know,” Hank laughed. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

Two sets of eyes blinked up at him, one blue and one yellow. He felt a great swell of love in his heart, and put aside all thoughts of the cure for a later date.

——

Three Months Later

 

Hank had been spending all his time in the lab lately, and he knew Alex was starting to get frustrated, even angry. Hank had even stopped spending time with Mia. He hadn’t stopped entirely, he still came out of the lab every few days and played with her, or read her stories, but overall he was severely lacking in his job as her father. She was an incredibly smart child. He could tell she was already picking up words, concepts, pictures, even at three months. Hank had decided that not only had she inherited his skin, she’d also inherited his genius. He was even beginning to believe that she might possibly be smarter than him. He was so proud of her, he loved her more than words could describe. She and Alex were his life, and he wanted nothing more than to keep them safe, which was why hehe was constantly in the lab. He worked tirelessly, mind laser focused. He couldn’t think about anything else. He’d pushed all other projects to the backburner. This couldn’t afford to be put off any longer, not when it was his daughter on the line this time.

There was a knock on the lab door, and then in walked Alex, carrying Mia in his arms. She was dressed in a little purple onesie, and her socks had elephants on them. Her feet were always cold, which was something Hank remembered from when he’d been a little boy. His feet had always gotten as cold as his hands had, most likely from never wearing shoes when he would run around outside.

Hank grinned big when he saw them come in, looking up from his microscope for only a moment to smile, before looking right back down. He watched how the cells mutated and moved around each other, the gears turning in his mind. He was closer than he’d ever been. He jotted down his latest findings before finally closing his notebook and looking up. Alex was standing in front of him, a noticeable frown on his face. Mia was cooing at him, her small blue hands waving in the air.

“What’s wrong?” Hank asked. Alex shrugged.

“It’s just been a while since we’ve seen you. I think it’s been a couple days, actually,” he said, the disapproval clear in his voice. Hank frowned, contrite.

“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry. It’s just that this project I’m working on, it’ll be life changing. It’ll be fantastic, and I’m so close to finishing it, I can almost taste it. I know it’s been a while, but I get a little crazy when I’m so close to finishing something.’ It was true, Hank was close, but not as close as he was leading Alex to believe, nor as close as he’d like to be. Alex still looked suspicious, but he just shrugged.

“Yeah, fair enough. I know how you get. What is this project of yours, anyway?” Alex asked. Hank kissed him lightly on plush lips, and then leaned down to kiss Mia’s little blue forehead.

“It’s a surprise,” he said. Alex sighed.

“Ok, don’t tell me then. I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually. Now come on, we haven’t seen you in far too long, and Mia’s going to forget what you look like if you don’t come and play with her,” Alex said, handing Mia off to Hank. Hank laughed, and nodded. He really wanted to continue on with the project, Raven’s cells weren’t going to study themselves, but he knew he’d been neglecting his family, and that he couldn’t keep it up for much longer.

“Yeah, alright, let’s go.”

They set off together, the three of them, and had a nice long dinner. Someone had made chicken and rice, and Hank inhaled it like it was his last meal. He hadn’t eaten really properly in several days, and he knew it was high time to get out of his lab if this was the way he was reacting. The dinner was fun, it was the best Hank had felt in days. He fed Mia mashed up peas and carrots, making airplane noises so she’d giggle before eventually swallowing it.

A little over an hour into dinner and Alex excused himself to the bathroom. Hank probably should’ve recognized the duplicity, but he remained blissfully unaware, airplaning Mia’s baby food into her mouth without a care in the world, until Alex came stomping back in, the very picture of fury, and slammed a folder down on the table.

“What the hell is this?” He asked, voice low and angry, just hinging on calm. Hank looked down at the folder and swallowed hard.

“It’s not what you think,” he said. Alex had found the folder, _the_ folder. The folder with the research on the cure. Hank’s stomach was in his throat. He didn’t know what to say or do. Alex was livid.

“I thought we were done with this shit Hank. What the hell else do I have to do to convince you that I don’t find you repulsive? I’ve had your dick in my mouth, I kiss you on a daily basis, I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life, I had your fucking _child_ , Hank. What else do I need to do, get Charles down here to fucking show you?” Alex snapped. Hank hadn’t expected such an extreme reaction, though, if he was being honest, he should have.

“Alex, I know that, believe me. I know you love me, this isn’t about that, this is-“

“Oh my God,” Alex gasped suddenly, staring down at the folder in abject horror. “This- this isn’t for you is it? This is for Mia.”

Hank sighed and looked away. He didn’t need to see the disgust in Alex’s eyes to know it was there.

“ _How could you?_ ” He said, sitting down heavily. “She’s your _daughter_ , Hank, and you hate the way she looks so much that you’re creating a mutant cure to change it?”

Hank turned back to look sharply at him.

“That’s _not_ what I’m doing,” he said fiercely. Alex had gone pale, ghostly.

“Then explain it to me, because that’s exactly what it fucking looks like.”

“I’m making the cure for Mia because, well because she’ll never be normal. She’s always going to look like this, blue. She can’t hide it like Raven, which means she’s never going to know what it’s like to live like a real person. She’s never going to be able to walk down the street without being afraid, and I don’t want that for her. I can’t be the reason her life is like that, I- I had to fix it.” Hank dared to look up at Alex, only to see him looking sick to his stomach. He stood quickly, and scooped up Mia from her chair. He held her close to his chest, hand over her head, blocking as much of the blue, as much of the nonhuman parts of her from Hank’s sight as possible.

“A real person? God Hank, I can’t believe this. It’s like you don’t even realize what you sound like. I’m so disgusted with you I can’t even look at you right now. Don’t come to our room tonight, and if I see you anywhere near Mia I will not hesitate to put you down,” Alex said. He didn’t raise his voice, he didn’t snarl or snap. He was calm and furious, he was terrifying.

“But-“ Hank began to protest. Alex held up a hand to shut him up.

“Stay away from us until I can stand to look at you again.” Alex turned to walk away, but stopped for a moment. His control had been getting better since Cuba, and so before he left he used a very concentrated and controlled blast to burn Hank’s file on the cure to a crisp. It wasn’t all his research, he wouldn’t have to start from scratch, but it was a crushing blow. Alex walked out of the room without another word, Mia hid from Hank’s sight.

Hank sat there, in the ruins of what had been a perfect family night staring at the smoldering remains of months, years really, of work. Hank didn’t move for a very long time.

Eventually he swept the burnt paper into the trash can, and stood up. He didn’t know quite what to do now. He couldn’t go to his and Alex’s room, that was for sure, and he didn’t want to go to the lab either. Alex had been more than clear, if Hank were to continue this research, that would be the end of them. Even if he found the cure he’d never get to use it on Mia; Alex would kill him first.

Hank stood carefully from the table and made his way to one of the sitting rooms. He was much too large to lay on any of the couches now that he was Beast, but he did anyway. He laid down on his side, facing the wall and did his best to condense himself enough to fit.

It wasn’t long before he was crying, silent tears and jarring sobs wracked his body. He’d been such an idiot. He’d been the monster he’d always tried not to be. Alex was right, Mia was perfect, Hank had always known that. He shouldn’t be trying to change her, not when it didn’t matter to any of _them_ what she looked like. Maybe she’d never get to walk down a public street like most people, but what did Hank know about the future? Maybe things would work out, maybe the world would change, and he wouldn't have to worry about his little baby blue.

Hank wiped at the tears, and slowly fell asleep.

——

Hank was shaken awake the next morning by a very tired looking Charles.

“Charles?” He asked. Charles sighed and sat back in his wheelchair.

“I should have made more of an effort when talking to you months ago. There was always a chance your mutated genes would get passed down, but I didn’t realize how extreme your reaction would be to Mia’s mutation, and that’s my own fault.” He was silent for a moment, then, “I can’t believe you Hank. She’s your daughter, and there’s nothing wrong with her.”

Hank felt guilt grip his heart once more. He knew there was nothing wrong with her, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that it was his fault that she would never be able to go out in public, it was an atrocity that he hadn’t been able to let stand. He needed Charles to understand, he needed _somebody_ to understand.

“I know that professor. I don’t have a problem with how she looks, I love her the way she is. Everything I hate about myself that she’s inherited is perfect on her her, _she’s_ perfect, in every way, I just- I feel so guilty. She’ll never get to walk down the street because of me, never go to a museum or a theme park, never go to college or even high school, and I just couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let her be alone all her life, trapped in this mansion with no one but the four of us,” Hank said. “I’m so sorry.” He put his head in his hands, and Charles said nothing. After a beat, Charles rubbed his hand along Hank’s back.

“I understand Hank, and you might want to tell Alex this because he thinks you want to make Mia human, but despite my understanding I still think you’re wrong. Mia won’t be alone. This place will be a school soon, full of people who will love and accept her, and more than that, we don’t know what the future holds. Twenty years from now Mia may be able to walk down the streets of New York City, blue skin and your feet and all, and not be looked at twice. We don’t know Hank, and we can’t make decisions now based on such an uncertain future.”

Hank sighed.

“I know, I’m sorry Professor.”

“It’s quite alright Hank, but I’m not the one you need to apologize to. You’re family needs you, for more than just your brain. Alex needs you more than you could ever know, and Mia needs her father. You can’t leave them, and you can’t let your own insecurities overshadow your devotion to your family. You’re a good father Hank, this mistake aside.” Charles looked at him with such sincerity that Hank had to believe him. He was right, Hank had made a mistake, and it was time to apologize.

“Thank you Professor. I think it’s time I talked to Alex,” he said, standing suddenly. Charles smiled.

“Yes, please do. You don’t know how lucky you are to have him.” Charles got this extraordinarily sad smile on his face all of a sudden. He looked mournful, just like he had after Cuba, when he was alone after Erik had left. Hank put a hand over Charles’, and leaned down in front of him.

“He made a mistake, but one day he’ll realize it,” Hank said, believing it, if only for that moment so that Charles might. Charles didn’t look at him, but he nodded anyway. Erik was a sore subject for all of them, but the reason they didn’t ever bring him up was Charles. He was incredibly delicate when it came to Erik. Hank knew he felt betrayed, and more than that he simply felt sad.

Hank squeezed Charles’ hand, and then set off to go find Alex and Mia.

First he looked in his and Alex’s room, but found nothing but an empty room and a bed half slept in. Alex’s pajamas were in a pile at the foot of the bed, and Hank smiled fondly and put them in the hamper. Alex was always leaving his things all over the place. Hank didn’t mind picking up after him, not really, not with everything Alex had done for him.

Next he checked the nursery, where he was unsurprised to find Alex sitting in their big wooden rocking chair, Mia sitting in his lap and happily pointing at the pictures in the book in Alex’s hand. Hank knocked lightly on the door, and they both looked up at once. Despite looking nearly nothing alike, they had incredibly similar expressions. Mia may look like Hank, but her attitude was all Alex.

When Mia looked up her eyes were wide and curious. When Alex looked up his eyes were murderous.

“I thought I said-“

“I know, and I’m sorry, Alex, but I can’t just leave the two of you alone, you’re my whole world.”

Alex scoffed, “Some way to treat your ‘world.’”

Hank looked away, his shoulders slumping.

“I know, and I’m sorry, I should never have done that. I should never have started up the research again, never even thought about it. Please let me explain, and then grovel.”

Alex didn’t look even the littlest bit placated, but he nodded in ascent. Hank steeled himself and looked up at them both.

“I don’t want to change Mia, not at all actually. I love her exactly the way she is, in fact I think she’s perfect. Everything I hate about myself that she has looks perfect on her. I don't want to change who she is, I just feel so guilty. The world as it is now will never accept her, and I feel terrible about that. This is all my fault, Alex. It’s my fault that we can never take her to Central Park or to a museum or to the beach. This is all my fault, and I just wanted to fix it, I wanted her to be able to experience all those things, all of the things every child should get to experience, but I should never have done it. The whole point of this place is to change the way the world sees us, not to change the way we are. She’s perfect the way she is, and I shouldn’t have even let that thought enter my mind.”

There was a long tense moment of silence. Even Mia seemed to be able to feel it. She’d stopped touching the pictures on the book, and was instead looking between them. She really was already brilliant. Hank couldn’t help but feel a great swell of pride for her despite the tension of the situation. Finally Mia reached up for him, cooing at him, and clenching her little blue fist in the air. It was obvious what she wanted, but still Hank looked at Alex in trepidation, who gave no indication of whether or not he was allowed to come forward. Hank decided to risk Alex’s wrath, and moved forward, holding his finger out to Mia so she should grip it in her small chubby fingers. Hank smiled at her, and she giggled at him, sharp little fangs peeking out from behind her lips.

“You’re not forgiven Hank. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive you for this, but you don’t have to stay away, from either of us. I understand why you did it, it’s something I worry about too, but that doesn’t give you permission to try to fix her. She’s doesn’t need to be fixed, no matter what you see of yourself in her. I know you have self esteem issues, and your guilt complex is frankly a little disturbing, but you need to get over yourself. If not for your sake or mine, then for hers. If she grows up seeing you hate yourself, she’s going to think there’s wrong with her, something about her that deserves to hated. You can’t let that happen, I won’t let that happen, are we clear?” Alex asked, unwavering. Hank nodded seriously.

“We’re clear. I’ll be better, for both of you.”

Alex nodded.

“Good, and just so you know you’re destroying all your samples too, and I’ll be watching you do it. Now pull up a chair, we’re reading Cat in the Hat.”

Hank wasted no time in pulling up a soft, plush arm chair next to the rocking chair, and sitting down next to them. Alex passed Hank the book, and Hank picked up where they left off, reading about the sun that did not shine, and the ground that was too wet to play, and all the fun they could have anyway.


End file.
